new analysis, at bipartisan policy center. they say the government will likely run out of money to pay its bills between february 15th and march 1st. if that were to happen, analysts worry the country could fall into another recession. we hit the debt limit on december 31st but the treasury department said, quote, they were taking extraordinary measures to put off that default. both republicans and democrats have vowed to hold firm in their positions in that showdown. the nation's biggest banks have agreed to cough up nearly $19 billion to resolve federal allegations of mortgage misdeeds and you could be one of them. that means millions of homeowners in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 and 2010 would receive anywhere from $250 to $125,000. in one case banks will pay $8.5 million in charges they

wrongfully foreclois foreclosed on millions of homeowners. the next case is bank of america paying $10.4 to fannie mae. there's a report published monday that says the obama administration spent nearly $18 billion on immigration enforcement last year, more than the spending on all the other major federal law enforcement agencies combined. that is 15 times greater than immigration spending in 1986. the nonpart son migration policy institute says immigration has become the government's highest law enforcement priority. among those likely to be unhappy with this report, critics who say the administration has been soft on immigration violators. president obama meets with his defense secretary today but it's not his new choice for that job, former nebraska senator chuck hagel that has republicans reeling. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington this morning with

more on how his pentagon and cia nominations could prompt the next big fight on capitol hill. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. we're already seeing democrats and republicans here with concerns about hagel. john brennan, protests by aclu and others on that nomination. protests outside the white house questioning whether john brennan spoke out loudly enough against controversial interrogation tactics. that's why brennan dropped out last time he was considered to head the cia. this time, he's courting both sides. >> although i consider myself neither a republican nor a democrat, i very much look forward to working closely with those on both sides of the aisle. >> reporter: but brennan's confirmation may not be as tough as chuck hagel's for secretary of defense. >> president, i'll give you my honest and most informed consens consensus. >> reporter: he has backed cuts at the pentagon.

>> as a successful businessman, he also knows as we have tough fiscal choices we have to do so wisely. >> reporter: republicans and democrats are concerned hagel is soft on iran and too tough on our ally israel. >> he's had a record of distinguished service but he's profoundly wrong on a number of the most important national security issues that face our country today. >> reporter: hagel insists his views have been completely distorted. he's also under fire for criticizing a clinton nominee as, quote, openly, aggressively gay. >> it's dangerous to roll the dice on this issue. >> reporter: all questions lawmakers are eager to ask when confirmation hearings get under way. as hagel has mixed support on the capitol hill he did pick up support from colin powell. >> thank you. after weeks of recovering from a concussion that led to a blood clot in her head, secretary of state hillary clinton was back in action on monday as she presided over state department meeting, her staff welcomed her back with a gag gift.

a football helmet, well padded, we hear, with the state department seal to. she also got a football jersey with the number 112. that is the record-setting number of countries that secretary clinton has visited while in office. hope it's the right size. in colorado a week-long preliminary hearing is under way for james holmes, the lone gunman charged with killing those in an aurora movie theater. the graphic testimony is the most detailed account yet of what happened that tragic night. >> reporter: more than 100 victims' relatives and victims' survivors packed a courtroom and two overflow rooms to hear details of the case against james holmes, disheveled and bearded in court and seemingly uninterested in the proceedings. the young police officer who put holmes outside the theater that night described him minutes after the shooting stopped as very, very relaxed, like there weren't normal emotional responses to anything. he seemed very detached.

squentd police witnesses describe the unspeakably gruesome scene he left behind, that left 12 dead and some 70 dead. officer who transported six to the hospital in his own car, broke down when asked why he kept returning to the theater. >> i didn't want them to die, he said, barely whispering. >> reporter: sergeant broke down when he recalled finding no pulse when he checked the youngest victim. terrible details, jennifer watts, whose cousin was among the dead. >> it's a piece to closure and i want to make sure the integrity of the case is intact so we don't have to repeat this in the future. >> that was nbc's mike taibbi reporting for us. for a look at the weather here's meteorologist bill

karins. >> the northwest got a little rain yesterday. this is a bigger storm. the avalanche threat is high because we're getting rain at higher elevation on top of the snowpack, makes it heavier and that's when you have danger of avalanches. let's show you what happened yesterday. this is the 24-hour rainfall totals. some fell as snow in spokane area but anywhere between a quarter of an inch in most cases up to a half an inch. with the next batch of rain coming in in the next storm, the warm front to the south. as it tries to push inland, it has a plume of moisture with it and coming down pretty good. you can see the motion and movement in some of this rain drifting up to the north. the highest elevations will see snow once again at passes, though. it should be kind of a battle. may be starting off as snow and changing to rain as warmer temperatures will win out. this will be a little more impressive. our expected rainfall totals, just computer estimates, but could be anywhere between 1 to 2 inches over the next two days, primarily during the day today and tonight and tapering off

tomorrow. highlighted area, down toward seattle and down to the border on i-5. those are the highest totals expected. cloundz clouds are spilling through nevada and northern california. filtered sunshine san francisco northwards and sunny, cool in getting into the 70s even this time of the year is a little cool. today's the worst of it. looks like the weather will improve in many areas of the west but get colder toward the weekend. >> arizona's okay, though? >> they're fine. not complaining. >> 70s, come on. >> the only ones complaining are the snow birds. aig with a curious way to say thanks. a place where silence is not so golden. a computer the whole family can sit down to.

a bumpy start to one couple's day to remember. this is "early today."

welcome back. the department of defense has segmentsed a class-action don't ask, don't tell lawsuit. giving full discharge to gay and lesbian service members who were forced to leave the military because of their sexual orientation. in chicago the medical examiner is expected to exhume the body of a lottery winner who may have been murdered. they say khan injected a lethal dose of cyanide one day after the state cut him a check for the jock pot of about $425,000. police have launched a homicide investigation. who knew astronauts were packing heat? they say russian cosmonauts on international space station have a gun, the swiss army knife of weapons, if you will, which apparently has three barrels also a folding stock that doubles as a shovel. a hot air balloon wedding

celebration in san diego turned dangerous has strong winds swung the basket, forcing the pilot to make a crash landing on a house. luckily, there were no serious injuries and the bride and groom had already said their vows. here's an early look at a top health headline on nbcnews.com. cancer death rates drop, hpv is on the rise. they find a decrease in deaths caused by most common cancers such as breast and lung but low vaccination rates may be to blame for spike in hpv-related cancers. >> announcer: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil wash. stocks took a step back as investors proceed with caution into earning season as it begins. financials fell after ten banks agreed to pay $8.5 billion to settle a probe into faulty foreclosures. "new york times" reporting bailed out insured aig may join a lawsuit claiming the

government's rescue-deprived shareholders of tens of billions of dollars. on the street netflix rose on its deal to stream time warner programs. that comes on the heels of hbo's new contract for another decade of exclusive rights to all universal films, a part owner of this network. disney slipped on reports that layoffs may be in the works at its studio. the u.s. government is proposing hybrid electric vehicles meet sound sanders to pedestrians and cyclists can hear them on the record. wendy's workers in nebraska are being cut back to part time because franchisees say they cannot afford insurance required. kfc parent yum brands dipped after hours on weaker than expected earnings. taco bell chain is getting buzz for playing ball with one avid fan. a high school swimmer asked for a speedo with slogan, think outside the buns. to his surprise, the company

replied, asking for his size. first came chicken nuggets, then mcbites and now mcdonald's is spreading its wings. mighty wings will be on menu in chicagos after successful test run in atlanta. the biggest consumer technology trade show kicks number of vegas today. among the highlights, a coffee table sized computer that works like a very large tablet. just ahead, alabama bashes notre dame for yet another bcs title. what a game that was. plus, all sorts of unexpected things can happen on live television. we got the video to prove it.

and "early today" in america -- a malfunctioning escalator set off panic and terror at a new jersey rail station. commuters began screaming and jumping off the descending staircase. fife people were injured in that. a ton of dolphins put on an amazing show for callens on a whale-watching tour. herds like these have been known to number over 10,000. finally, malls normally attract teens but not in this case. the 103-year-old colorado man you see here has been a beloved mall staple for the past 12 years. every day he spends two hours

walking around the mall for a little exercise and maybe window shopping to boot. in sports, bcs national championship game of college football, alabama scored on its first series and went on here to crush notre dame 42-14. quarterback connected on four touchdown passes as crimson tide won its third national championship in four years. in the first quarter announcer brent musburger made an interesting remark about mccareins girlfriend in the stands. >> you see that lovely lady there, she goes to auburn, but also miss auburn, and that's a.j.'s girlfriend. right there on the right is dee dee bonner, his mom. you quarterbacks get all the beautiful women. what a beautiful woman. >> katherine webb, by the way, has gained an amazing 113,000 twitter followers since just last night. she was only in the thousands

before that. in hawaii dustin johnson has the lead after they finally got to play two rounds of the tournament of champions in windy and rainy weather, they hope to finish the final round today. in minnesota tv reporter of affiliate kare was doing a live shot on the upcoming vikings game when her cameraman bold her over. in brazil -- right there, a runner there leading in a race was attacked by a man with a history of mental problems. police on motorcycles were able to stop the attack and the kenyan runner went on to win the race. just ahead, ryan lochte dives into react and taylor swift reportedly racks up another ex. why are kim and kanye turning down millions for the first photos of their baby?

welcome back to "early today." the umbrella is probably still wet from yesterday. many areas of the northwest and now watching more rain push through. a big slug, too. this will head into areas of washington state. this time for areas like spokane, not like 7 inches of snow you got yesterday. it will be more or less starting as snow and turning to a rain/snow mixture. not looking for any accumulations today. southern portions of california you're fine today and even tomorrow we'll watch the moisture head a little further south but not into southern cal. you won't have to wait until rio 2016 for another dose of

ryan lochte. he will star in a show "what would ryan lochte do," another reality tv show. e network said people either want to sleep with him, mother him or be him. >> which are you? >> good guy. the host of the academy awards will also announce the nominations. seth mcfarland will be doing double duty when he and emma stone announce the nominees. some absolutely shocking news. kim and kanye are reportedly being offered huge sums of money for the first pic of baby kimye. one tabloid reportedly offered them $3 million that they turned down. >> the shocking part is they turned it down. >> yeah. then they'll get more. cue the new taylor swift song jokes. she's already said to have broken up with one direction's

stiles. they were seen kissing one week ago. apparently here things went south on new year's day. taylor, again, very single. by the way, that's years in hollywood time. this comes from ksn tv kansas, in st. george, teenager with down syndrome was voted as winner royalty queen by her classmates. she and her parents say he had the can hardly think of a better way to start the final semester of her senior year. this is your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

some puppets seem better suited for a horror film than city. looks kind of odd. big eyes, right? they also had feet, eyes as i mentioned and even a mouth. we're seeing walking around alongside. >> is that a nose? >> flat, though. they said they were educational but a little scary. i agree with that. one young man in australia earned his wings. a training pilot landed safely after the plane lost a wheel midair. he circled for four hours before the emergency landing. 24 here, bill, so young but talented. a familiar face is greeting visitors at china's, gangnam in

an ice sculpture with glasses and bow tie. it towers over fans. he may be done prfring his signature moves but the icy statue has visitors dancing alongside him. it's still going. >> he said he wants to move on. he doesn't want to be a one-hit wonder. >> he'll still have to do that. time for an early look at stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. two years ago, today six people were killed and 13 others were injured in a mass shooting in tucson, arizona, including former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she and her husband astronaut mark kelly are marking date with a project they hope to encourage lawmakers to prevent gun violence. celebrations are planned for the 78th birthday of the king of rock 'n' roll, elvis presley's hometown of tupelo, mississippi, with a number of events going

on, including a film tribute and lighting of its new homecoming statue. you can stay on top of the very latest developments on those stories and the best political analysis on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. matt sits down with former guardians of a steubenville, ohio, teen, accused of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party in august. the young stars of the hbo show "girls" open up about fame, critics and season number two. keep it on this channel for local news, sports and more. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today," your first stop of the day on your nbc station. have a good one.

repairs are under way this morning for a section of the bay bridge hit by a tanker in yesterday's fog. see what the pilot of that boat will do in just a few hours to help the coast guard in its investigation. gadgets galore. now on display for the entire world to see. this morning the curtain lifted on some of the biggest secrets in the tech world. the giants world series trophy gets ready to make the rounds. find out where you can see it first. we take you live to san francisco for a look at the bay bridge. tell you about something damage-wise happening out there. an investigation going on on this tuesday, january 8th. this is "today in the bay." it is almost